70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Hey everyone just got back from a scout trip to South Carolina and back. My son is finishing up his eagle project, his friends have finished and gotten their eagle projects done. It looked like the troop was going to end with them all aging out (18yo). To use up the money from the troop I and the other leaders told them to plan a trip and we will see if it's doable.
This trip to Charleston S. Carolina is the result. My son and I had basically 3 choices for a vehicle to take.
1. Steal my wife's Jeep GC and with the heat wave this last week probably end up in divorce, bad idea.
2. Use our old 2002 Chevy Trailblazer which has had a locked up compressor and then a over the winter deer strike leaves it with a mess for A/C, among other things.
3. My 1968 Charger. No A/C, put together with junk parts, 3 different shades of orange, and some rust.
Number 3 is the obvious choice. Full disclosure, I did grease outboard bearings, and change rear differential fluid (because the spacer which is in 2 pieces fell in oil when pulling the axles), known issue in the rear. Had to tack weld the u joint caps onto the driveshaft, unable to install the new one due to time constraints of life. I R&R the left rear wheel cylinder as it was moist. I finally added the disc brakes and changed the last 2 ball joints since getting it back on the road back in 2017. New points, plugs and a engine oil change and off we went.
I must say that the ball joints helped stability greatly, did not touch front end alignment since back when I garage floor and jack stand aligned it in 2017.
So, long story long, we put 1408 miles on in 6 days. Did not do much local driving because we rode with others that have A/C and not packed with luggage. Car ran absolutely flawless. Used a quart of oil total, did not overheat in the couple of times we got stuck in traffic for a couple of wrecks and congestion in Charlotte (BTW who's great idea was it to create a traffic problem by blocking off lanes and then solving it by charging a toll to use the blocked lanes? Only in NASCAR country, no wonder that organization is so poorly run)
For those of you that poo-poos on overdrives and headers. I got between 14.5 and 17.7 mpg running 70-80 mph and engine revving at 2300-2500. Car was a absolute pleasure to drive, some sound deadener, a new steering box, and A/C I will be taking it on more road trips.
Thanks for listening. See some of you in Carlisle.
This trip to Charleston S. Carolina is the result. My son and I had basically 3 choices for a vehicle to take.
1. Steal my wife's Jeep GC and with the heat wave this last week probably end up in divorce, bad idea.
2. Use our old 2002 Chevy Trailblazer which has had a locked up compressor and then a over the winter deer strike leaves it with a mess for A/C, among other things.
3. My 1968 Charger. No A/C, put together with junk parts, 3 different shades of orange, and some rust.
Number 3 is the obvious choice. Full disclosure, I did grease outboard bearings, and change rear differential fluid (because the spacer which is in 2 pieces fell in oil when pulling the axles), known issue in the rear. Had to tack weld the u joint caps onto the driveshaft, unable to install the new one due to time constraints of life. I R&R the left rear wheel cylinder as it was moist. I finally added the disc brakes and changed the last 2 ball joints since getting it back on the road back in 2017. New points, plugs and a engine oil change and off we went.
I must say that the ball joints helped stability greatly, did not touch front end alignment since back when I garage floor and jack stand aligned it in 2017.
So, long story long, we put 1408 miles on in 6 days. Did not do much local driving because we rode with others that have A/C and not packed with luggage. Car ran absolutely flawless. Used a quart of oil total, did not overheat in the couple of times we got stuck in traffic for a couple of wrecks and congestion in Charlotte (BTW who's great idea was it to create a traffic problem by blocking off lanes and then solving it by charging a toll to use the blocked lanes? Only in NASCAR country, no wonder that organization is so poorly run)
For those of you that poo-poos on overdrives and headers. I got between 14.5 and 17.7 mpg running 70-80 mph and engine revving at 2300-2500. Car was a absolute pleasure to drive, some sound deadener, a new steering box, and A/C I will be taking it on more road trips.
Thanks for listening. See some of you in Carlisle.
